I know we’re all trying to find some balance these days, whether you’re juggling parenting, kids being back in school, self-taping, your acting career, your day job, finding a new day job or just finding your sanity lately.
I want to share some insights I have picked up along the way from my (now over a decade) journey as a parent, an actress and a working mom…so you can apply these lessons to your own life.
(And if you’re not a parent, you can swap “my kids” and add in “myself,” so essentially you’re parenting yourself).
It’s definitely been a rollercoaster ride, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. Along the way, I’ve learned to celebrate progress over perfection as well as these insights. Enjoy!
15 Lessons I’ve Learned On My Journey Juggling Career + Family
1. When I show my kids what it looks like to dream big, they learn that anything is possible.
2. When I show my kids what it looks like to fail + get back up again, they learn to not be afraid to try new things.
3. When I show my kids what it looks like to be sad or disappointed, they learn that it’s okay to express themselves.
4. When I show my kids what it looks like to cry, they learn that all emotions are energy in motion + meant to be felt.
5. When I show my kids what it looks like to be a mother, an actress, a wife, an entrepreneur, they learn that they, too, don’t only have to be just one thing.
6. When I show my kids what it looks like to do your best + still not get the job, they learn what resilience looks like.
7. When I show my kids what it looks like to want something + have it not work out immediately the way you want it, they learn what patience + perseverance looks like.
8. When I show my kids what it looks like to take care of myself, they learn to value their own well-being.
9. When I show my kids what it looks like to pursue excellence, they learn to raise the bar for themselves.
10. When I show my kids what it looks like to put the phone down, be present, spend time, to truly listen to what they have to say, they learn that they are valuable.
11. When I show my kids what it looks like to be scared, uncertain or fearful, but to take risks anyway, they learn to embrace the adventure of life.
12. When I show my kids what it looks like to find joy in helping others, they learn compassion.
13. When I show my kids what it looks like to find the beauty in nature, they learn that abundance abounds.
14. When I show my kids what it looks like to find the good in the toughest of situations, they learn the power of a positive mindset.
15. When I show my kids what it looks like to be kind to those who are different than you, they learn empathy.
We all want the best for our kids, but it’s in showing them that it’s okay to fail, to be disappointed, to risk, to get hurt, to get rejected, to fall down, but to also always get up every single time, that we ultimately teach them to rise.
It’s funny, as I put this list together, I also realize that my kids have really been my best teachers.
I hope this helps you find some balance today with all you’re doing, embrace the rollercoaster ride, and also know that you can absolutely juggle both career and family.
Let me know in the comments below, which lesson spoke to you most today.
I’ve been pausing more lately, without distraction from devices.
I’ve been listening to birds sing in my backyard, marveling at the freckles on my children’s faces and enjoying mindful moments where I deeply and sincerely appreciate my life.
And it seems the more I do this, the happier I become and the more unexpected wonderful surprises start to show up. (In the form of auditions, helpful people + exciting offers).
So, just for today, give yourself the gift of a mindful moment. How?
Put the phone down. Go outside. Take in the scenery. Love yourself, right where you are. Just for today, let go of needing anything to be different.
Let go of striving and pushing to change where you are. (more…)
How have you been feeling lately? Have you been feeling inspired + motivated or lethargic + unproductive? I know the last 12 months have been a roller-coaster ride.
As we begin the 3rd month of 2021, I hope you are making your mental health + self-care your #1 priority. (And yes, it effects everything you do for your acting career).
How do you know if you have an effective daily well-being routine? Here’s a great way to check in:
Have you been allowing outer circumstances + events to dictate how you feel each day or have you been aligning your mind + getting out ahead of it all, as you begin your day?
To be on a creative path, is to be on a spiritual path. The good news, is you have more creative control of your life than you might think, even when external circumstances seem limiting.
So often we think that life is just happening to us, and we forget that our energy and perspective plays a vital role in the unfolding of it all.
Best-selling author, Dr. Joe Dispenza says,
“When it comes down to it, there are 2 ways to approach our lives: either as the victims to our lives or the creators of our lives. To live as the victim is to live within the limited belief system that everything in our outer world is happening to us.
Simply put, when things are good, you feel good. When things are bad, you feel bad. That’s the polarized world of victim consciousness in a nutshell.
Creative consciousness, on the other hand, is the awareness that when you feel joy, love, or gratitude before your creation is made manifest—& you combine that energy of joy, love, or gratitude with the intent of new information—it is that elevated frequency that can carry that thought.”
Quotes like this always inspire me so much.
When you learn how to choose your thoughts + emotions (no matter what is going on in the outside world), you become a master of your life.
And what happens, is you begin to see yourself as infinite intelligence sees you.
In fact, here is what infinite intelligence would tell you today, my fellow creative warrior…
You matter. You belong. You are important. You are powerful. You are ready. Your time is now. You playing small does not serve the world. There will never be another you. You have many gifts to share. You have many amazing experiences ahead. You are worthy of all of life’s beautiful blessings. You are ready to receive.
We all want the conditions to change to bring us happiness. If we could only book the job, find the mate, win the award….then, we’d feel better.
At the root of all that is feeling like somehow we are not enough, or worthy or valuable without the external condition we want being met.
I get it. I’ve been there. Heck, I was there last month when a few self-tapes I felt great about turned into…well, not booking the job. (Then Atypical called, and now I am back for Season 4). What a rollercoaster ride we go through as actors.
We put our hearts + souls into every audition, and when it doesn’t turn into a booking, it can chip away at who we think we are.
Now, I love that I get to play for a living, and I was proud of the work I did in both of those auditions, but it got me thinking about how much we define ourselves by whether we book the job or not + how dangerous that can be to our self-esteem.
So, my #MondayMotivation is for you to begin the week knowing this…Whether you booked a job this month (or year) or not.
Even if you had 5 self-tape auditions with no callbacks.
Even if you have friends whose lives look perfect on the outside.
Even if you’re going through a rough time.
Even if you just got your heart broken.
Even if you don’t know how you’re going to pay your rent.
Even if you’re feeling sad.
Even if you’re feeling frustrated.
Even if your big dreams haven’t come true yet.
Even if you wonder how they ever will.
Please know, that your happiness, doesn’t lie in the next “booking.”
Sure, it’s fun to book the job, but don’t spend your days between now + then waiting to be happy, to feel like you’re enough, to feel worthy or to feel valuable.
Your happiness and all those feelings are a gift you can give yourself TODAY.
No matter where you are in your life or career (even if it’s not quite where you thought you would be by now), please breathe this in…
Sometimes it’s the smallest shift that can produce the biggest results.
I see it every day with the hundreds of amazing actors I have the privilege of mentoring in my course + in my private coaching community and I always marvel at how easily + quickly the inner breakthroughs invite in the outer breakthroughs.
If you’ve been putting in a lot of effort this year + already feeling exhausted, I want to help remind you of who you really are + encourage you to pause today, let go of limitation + breathe in the feelings of abundance.
You are abundant at your core. Everything about you is abundant.
From the cells in your body to the neural pathways in your brain, to the taste buds on your tongue, you are made up of pure abundance.
You are worthy of your biggest dreams + you have the ability to magnetize what you want towards you.
It all begins with your emotions. since what you feel, you attract + what you imagine, you become.
Anything you were taught growing up about money or success that isn’t in alignment with pure + total abundance, you can take a moment, to simply breathe, release + let go of it all now.
Do this quick breathing + expansion exercise with me now… (more…)
And I’m revealing why taking “massive action” towards your goals might not be the best way to begin the New Year, and why most actors won’t see results in 2021 (and how to not be one of them). And that’s just Day 1.
The 5-day event kicks off next Monday, January 11, so save your seat now + get some goodies from me before we even begin.
I know we often want the conditions to change so we can start feeling better.
As actors, we often spend a lot of time “hoping we will feel better when…we get a callback, we get a new agent, or when we book the job.”
Yes, I’ve done that too.
And now, there seems to be a collective “hoping we will feel better when….this pandemic is finally over.”
The reason this way of thinking makes us feel so powerless, is because we are allowing the external conditions (the callback, the agent, the job, the pandemic), to dictate how we feel.
Sure, we’d all like to be back working (and I’d love for my kids to return to in-person school next week), but I am reminded during these times, that we do have the power to choose our focus.And it is our focus that determines how we feel.
Think about it. Have you ever been stuck in traffic and noticed one driver who is angry and frustrated and another driver who is singing and dancing along to their music? Same situation. Different focus. DIfferent feeling.
I’ve had my own share of ups and downs these past few months, but in sitting down to record this month’s guided meditation for my Spotlight Club + Community, this new math equation came to me. An equation for feeling bliss, right now. (Yes, even among all kinds of conditions that I may not like).
This equation has reminded me that it’s not about waiting for the perfect conditions to appear, but having a process for finding the light even on my darkest days. I hope it helps you too.
Which element of this equation might you focus on more today?
Imagine how it would feel to practice all five of these elements, every single day for a week.
What a weekend! I did two live events connecting with actors from Vancouver to Capetown, Finland to New York and London to LA.
To connect with this amazing community LIVE, and dive deep into how you can create real momentum and thrive through uncertainty left us all feeling empowered and uplifted.
Here are some of the awesome comments that were lighting up the chat….
It truly makes my day to give back to actors in this way + share all I’ve learned on this journey.
This training has made such a big impact on actors, because it’s all based on what is working right now, amidst the current climate and conditions in our world + the industry.
It’s fresh perspectives, real life stories, and tangible tools you can implement today.
Then, I’ll show you exactly how to apply what you learn to your daily life right now – so you can feel empowered + become unstoppable (instead of simply adding more “should do’s” to your plate).
What I’ve learned about getting big results in my life, whether it’s becoming fit (in my body or mind) or up-leveling my life and career, is that it’s never about one, big giant moment, (that’s just what most people see on Instagram).
Big results come from small, committed daily actions.
And look, I know right now, many of us feel “off our game” and “off our routine.”
So. if there is one action today that will help you create real momentum this week, this month and this year, it’s (more…)
Best selling author + leadership expert John Maxwell states, “You will never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine.”
In other words, big results come from small, committed daily actions.
But what about right now, in the middle of a pandemic, when everything feels…off?
Well, next weekend, you’re invited to attend a free LIVE virtual training, where I am going to dive deep into this topic + share fresh perspectives, true stories, tangible tools and easy action steps that you can implement immediately (yes even right now, in the midst of the uncertainty in the world + in our industry).
Secure your seat to join me LIVE (for free from anywhere in the world) and learn:
You’ll learn how to set yourself up with a daily momentum mindset and learn how to manage your sanity on this rollercoaster ride of being an actor in the middle of a pandemic!
I’m so glad last week’s post helped so many of you turn the “should do’s” into “could do’s” and serve to let go of the guilt or shame of “not being more productive.”
This theme (and your response to it) got me thinking about how so much of our worth + value has been tied up for so long in what we produce, what we do, and what we accomplish.
Many of us have spent years hustling, and being “busy doing more” to show ourselves (and anyone we think might be watching) that we are of value.
Even in our world of “show-business,” it really is all about show. When you book a job, it seems the minute you wrap, everyone wants to know, what’s next? What do you have to “show” for yourself?
But now that the world has essentially “stopped all the doing,” and our industry is on a global pause, it’s given each of us a time to re-evaluate how we perceive ourselves + even redefine what success truly means.
Does success mean being productive to the point of burnout + overwhelm?
Does success mean splitting your energy in a million different ways?
Does success mean hustling + being everything to everyone?
What if you used this time to think about where you were putting your energy, how it was (or wasn’t) serving you + how you can reshape your life moving forward.
And for those of you who love a good to-do list, I thought I’d put one together for your well-being.
When you align with the inner knowing that you don’t have to be productive to be of value, you can then choose activities, people + projects that light you up, instead of using any of it to prove your worthiness.
SINCE LISTENING TO YOUR GUIDED MEDITATIONS, I BOOKED 2 FEATURE FILMS
"I bought Creating Powerful Auditions and I listen to it every morning. "Empowering Myself" is my absolute favorite meditation, sometimes I put it on repeat until I fully and truly feel every declaration. Since I've been listening to your guided meditations I booked my first feature film + also recently booked the lead role in my first horror film. Thank you for coming into my life!”
I'VE TURNED A SLOW STREAK INTO A BOOKING STREAK AND I FEEL REALLY EMPOWERED.
"Wendy is so generous with her knowledge and understanding of the deeper, inside work that goes into living a healthy, happy, well balanced actor life. Her daily inspirations mean so much to me...and I'm grateful for the custom guided meditation she wrote for me. I've turned a slow streak into a booking streak & I feel really empowered."
2013-11-25T02:34:15-08:00
Community, iCarly, Good Luck Charlie
https://actorinspiration.com/testimonials/bartag/
Joe Mack
YOUR AFFIRMATIONS ALLOWED ME TO STEP OUT OF THE FEAR AND BE PRESENT IN THE ROOM.
"I just returned from an audition after listening to your guided meditations. Your affirmations allowed me to step out of the fear and be present in the room. As I waited for my audition I envisioned the session being successful and feeling empowered afterward. And it was and I did."
I BOOKED TWO ACTING GIGS IN THE SAME WEEK BECAUSE I HAD HER CD ON REPEAT!
"I listen to Wendy's guided meditations pretty much every chance I get. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have her amazing voice in my ear keeping me empowered, inspired + in the right mental space to persevere day in and day out. I booked two acting gigs in the same week because I had Wendy's Creating Powerful Auditions album on repeat. Thank you WENDY for your positivity + light!"
I BOOKED THE JOB! LISTENING TO CREATING POWERFUL AUDITIONS MADE A DIFFERENCE!
"Been listening to your "Creating Powerful Auditions" mp3 daily since purchasing about a week ago. Listened to it on the way to an audition...took a few moments before leaving my car to do the visualizations. I walked into the audition room feeling totally empowered, feeling light. I booked the job. I feel your album made a difference. Thank you, Wendy."
